“What do you mean when you say your characters come alive?” I have answered this question before, but I know I will say something different every time I answer it. When you start a novel, you have a protagonist, their love interest, and an antagonist. You can even simplify that to just a protagonist and antagonist. When I first get an idea for a novel, the story and the characters are unclear. The opposite would be you picking up a book in a bookstore or online intending to read it. The blurb on the cover and the artwork make it sound interesting, but the whole story is unclear to you.
Usually, the first sign I have that my characters are coming alive is when I describe them going into a scene. You know, but your reader doesn’t the importance of the scene. Winter is coming on, so let’s set the scene in the winter. Let’s say our hero will take his girlfriend skiing, and it’s going to be the first time our hero understands he’s falling for his friend. They will be wearing proper ski attire, with hers being more feminine. When I go to describe ski lodge attire, I might begin to have trouble.
I start by having trouble describing his sweater. The rhythm of the sentence seems off, or the color of the sweater seems off, and so on. That’s when I realize character has come alive. I’ll start describing colors, type sweaters, and so on. He likely wouldn’t wear a cashmere sweater, but he might wear a merino wool sweater. Why? So his girlfriend would have a soft fabric to lean her face against. I can almost see him nodding his agreement at the description of the sweater.
I have often wondered about my relationship with my female characters. Of even nasty female characters, I feel somewhat protective of them. My relationship with my granddaughter showed me my relationship with my female characters is much like my relationship with her. I love her, and I am willing to give her more space than I might with a daughter.
My relationship with female characters can be more intense. I remember the scene where the female character takes off her clothing. I just did not want her to have sex with the man she was with. At one point, I was so frustrated with her that I actually wrote, “Put your damn clothes back on!” She didn’t. The story was richer because she didn’t.
As I said at the beginning, this is yet another way to describe how characters come alive. It’s different every time, just as characters are different every time.
